By Svetlana Marshall

MINISTER within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes,has instructed miners in the Konawaruk Backdam to cease operations until safety measures are put in place, even as she made an emotional appeal for them to value their lives by putting safety first.Minister Broomes led a technical team from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Ministry of Social Protection on Thursday through a tortuous trail 33 miles from central Mahdia to the notorious Konawaruk Backdam, Region Eight, where 18-year-old Ramal Williams was killed last Sunday when a mining pit caved in.

Under a makeshift tent, approximately 10 minutes from where the incident occurred, she met with the General Manager (GM) of the Mining Operation, Eldon English, along with other miners, three of whom survived the horrific incident.
The men, clearly still traumatised, said they were working inside the pit when they realised that the sand began to slide from at the bottom. English said he was not in the pit at the time but was in close proximity.
“I saw when the wall crack but by the time I get up to tell them, it de done start sliding. When I look me ain’t see nobody,” he recalled.
English, who hails from the Pomeroon River in Region Two, started working at the operation only three weeks ago on behalf of the owner of the dredge, Keith Dover.
After giving the miners a listening ear, Minister Broomes and team not only offered recommendations based on best practices, but encouraged them to value their lives.
“One of the most painful things to see as a miner — is to see human beings covered alive. It is a harsh reality….I know you have family, I know you have needs and you came here to get money, but value your life,” Minister Broomes said as she encouraged the miners to place major emphasis on safety during the execution of their work.
However, she wasted no time in expressing her disappointment in the owner of the dredge operation. According to reports, since the accident occurred, Dover never returned to area.
“Workers let me tell you something, you are very very important and I don’t care, every miner, every dredge-owner will put the safety of workers first and then money,” Minister Broomes said sternly.
“Me being at the Ministry of Natural Resources, I really want to give back to the industry not in a sense of persons getting land or persons making money, but to bring a change in the lives of the people who work in the industry …And this is one of the reasons I am here today, to meet you and hear some of the challenges you face in terms of safety,” she added.
Upon visiting the scene of the accident, Minister Broomes and the GGMC officials concluded that the miners had failed to put sufficient preparations in place. As such, negligence was listed as one of the contributing factors to last Sunday’s tragedy. The miners were instructed not to work the mine until precautionary measures are put in place.

“I think it is complete negligence that caused the accident,” Minister Broomes told the Guyana Chronicle after assessing the situation from the ground.
GGMC’s Occupational Health and Safety Officer Denis Lewis explained that the miners had placed the overburden at the edge of the wall, causing it to become very heavy. “The overburden was too heavy for the face of the wall and that caused an uneven sinking. Because of the high water table, the land shifted to the lower part and caused a stress and that stress enlarged because of the weight of the overburden,” he further explained.
According to Lewis, the miners should have been “two and a half lengths” away from the wall of the pit. “If the wall is 20 ft, you need to be 50 ft away from the wall, and so they didn’t observe that established safety standard and that caused the accident,” he said.
He said too that the overburden was so close to the wall that they could not have inspected it to see if cracks had occurred.
Lewis was accompanied by GGMC’s Engineer Ruddy McDonald and a Mines Officer, along with other technical persons. The Ministry of Social Protection Department of Labour was represented by Dexter Semple – a Senior Labour Officer.
In addition to the visit, Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman had ordered that a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) be launched to fully investigate the matter within 72 hours. A report, which will inform decisions at a policy level, is expected to be completed next week.

On March 14, Konawaruk was the scene of another mining accident which claimed the life of 19-year-old Trenton Sebastian. In April, a CoI into the death of Sebastian revealed that the “absence of controls to make the mine-face safe” was a major contributing factor.
Last September, another CoI revealed that 25 deaths were recorded in 16 accidents within a 12-month period – 75 per cent of which were due to the collapse of mining pits.